Truth or Dare?
by plaguedbynargles
Summary: Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville, and Draco are playing truth or dare! What hilarity will ensue? Suggestions are taken!
1. Chapter 1

**** Okay everyone, this is mostly an introduction chapter to this fic. It is going to be multichapter and is going to be an ongoing project. So as long as I and the readers are still interested, it will be updated. I hope you enjoy! As I said before, though, the first chapter is mostly introduction and the following chapters will be more humorous. There is little bits of Luna/Neville, Harry/Ginny, Hermione/Draco in this. Not enough to be too obvious or annoying if you don't ship them though.**

"Merlin, I'm so bored," Ron complained loudly.

The golden trio was lounging in the shade of their favorite oak tree. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and the trees were not yet changing color. All of the seventh years were back at Hogwarts to repeat the previous year, given that Death Eaters don't make proper teachers.

"It's only September and already we're getting bored," Harry halfheartedly commented. And it was true. Perhaps it was the fatigue left over from the previous year, or perhaps they were all just getting older, but the three friends could think of nothing that motivated them to move from under the shade of the tree.

"We could study," Hermione suggested, "I mean, it never hurts to get ahead…" she trailed off, knowing already what the answer would be.

"Study what exactly? We've only been in school about two weeks, and Snape's not here to-" Ron abruptly stopped his train of thought there. He knew how much Snape's death had affected Harry and despite still not being much of a fan of the former teacher, he didn't want to upset his friend. The three just sat, watching the clouds slowly glide past, as if they too lacked motivation.

"You lot as bored as we are?" The three looked up to see Neville loping across the lawn towards them, holding Luna's hand gently as she looked from her new love interest to her friends with a soft smile.

"As big as giant squids are, they can only eat so much toast," Luna remarked in her dreamy voice.

"So it's not just us then," Ron pointed out, ignoring Luna's comment, "We need something to do. It's our last year at Hogwarts."

"Really? I had no idea," Harry sarcastically responded. Ron kicked his friend in the shoe.

"Does anyone have any ideas?" Neville asked as he sat down with them.

They all sat for a moment, listening only to the sound of Luna collecting berries that may or may not have been poisonous from a nearby shrub.

"Wizard chess?" Harry suggested.

"Harry, how many times do I have to explain to you how barbaric the concept of that game is? Besides, we'd have to go inside if we wanted to avoid all the pieces escaping, and it's so nice out here" Hermione pointed out.

No one felt like arguing with Hermione and losing, as they all surely would, and so they sat in silence again, staring at the ground, trees, or far away students.

"No quidditch…" Harry pointed out as he looked up from the grass to Hermione. Upon seeing her frown he added, "I'm too tired anyway, though."

"Yea, saving the world will do that to you," Ron remarked as Harry looked down again. He was happy Voldemort was gone, but if he was honest with himself, he couldn't wait for people to start to forget it had ever happened. After living in the spotlight all his life, he was beginning to get sick of people swooning over him every time he blinked.

"So…" Neville began, seeing Harry's slight discomfort, "No chess, no quidditch, no packages from the Weasley's shop yet, and the giant squid is already stuffed with bread," he sighed.

Suddenly, an idea occurred to Ron, "Hermione, you're Muggle born! You must know some weird Muggle games that we haven't grown tired of yet!"

"Well I…" Hermione paused as she racked her brains for a game that wouldn't require too much explaining. _It can't involve moving; I'm sure none of us feel like getting up… Not childish, either… and it can't be too complicated._ Suddenly, she smirked as a memory pushed itself to the front of her mind. She looked down in an attempt to hide it, but it was too late.

"What?" Harry asked her, feeling like their boredom would soon be lifted.

"Nothing," Hermione answered, only half wanting to avoid the question. She had all of their attention now.

"Hermione, you'd better tell us or I swear on Merlin's pants I will curse you!" Ron threatened, taking out his wand.

Neville interjected, "Is that really a good idea, mate? This is _Hermione Granger_ you're threatening," Harry laughed.

"Okay, fine. Hermione, come on, though. Tell us what you're smirking about over there," Ron asserted.

Hermione blushed furiously as laughter began to shake her small form, "There is one game…" She paused to try to control her laughter.

Harry wondered what kind of game _Hermione_ had played that would make her act like this. He was suddenly apprehensive. Ron must have thought the same thing because he proceeded to ask her, "Erm, Hermione? What sort of a game-"

"No no no! It's not like what it seems, I promise!" Hermione interrupted, laughter ceasing, "I just remembered something funny. And I know a game we could play. It's called truth or dare. I used to play it with my friends all the time during the summer."

Upon hearing the name of the game, everyone began to ponder exactly what Hermione did when she was away from Hogwarts, save Neville.

"How do you play, then?" he prompted.

"It's simple, really, one person asks another if they would like to answer a truth, or complete a dare. Whichever you choose, you either have to answer truthfully to what they ask you, or do whatever they dare you to do. And then that person chooses the next person, and so on," she explained.

Ron shrugged, "Sounds like a right good time to me. Hermione should start." Ron said, leaning back on his elbows.

Just as they were about to begin however, Ginny appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, startling Neville. Luna, who was still harvesting row of shrubs Ginny had been hiding in, seemed unphased.

"Sorry, Neville. Damn, Peeves has been a pain in the arse today. He's been stalking me all day," Ginny said as she wrestled her way free of the plants.

"Is that why you've been lurking in the bushes like a common ape?" a familiar drawling voice asked.

"Leave us alone Draco," Ginny turned around to face the blonde.

"Yea, lay off my sister," Ron chimed in as Luna, seemingly oblivious to the scene, continued to gather berries.

It suddenly struck Harry that this was the first time he'd seen Draco since the day he killed Voldemort. While he looked better than he had during the war, he certainly didn't look well. Draco was still far too thin to be eating enough, his skin and hair had grown dull, and he was alone. For once, he didn't have a crowd of loyal Slytherin followers surrounding him.

"Hatred will get you nowhere," Luna scolded gently, eyes still on her shrub.

"Tell that to the Death Eater," Neville solemnly added.

"Look you little-" Draco began.

"She means all of us! Now everyone just be quiet!" Hermione raised her voice, taking control of the situation.

"At least someone here knows how to act civilized," Draco quietly sneered, "Even if she _is_ Muggle- born." He turned on his heel and began to stalk away.

_He didn't call me a Mudblood,_ Hermione thought, intrigued.

"Draco, wait!" she called after the Slytherin, acting completely on impulse.

Draco stopped in his tracks.

"Play truth or dare with us!"

"WHAT?" The entire group was in uproar at once. Harry understood, though. Draco was alone at Hogwarts, and he _did_ hesitate to turn them during the incident on his manor. When Harry pointed this out, the response he got from Ron was thunderstruck.

"Harry, have you gone mad? This is the bloke who made us miserable for six years! The prat who tried to get Buckbeak killed!"

As Harry was considering this, Draco interrupted the uproar, "And why, pray tell, would I want to do that?" This caused everyone to stop arguing as it reminded them that Hermione had just invited _Draco_ to sit with them.

"Because you have no friends here currently, and Harry saved your life during the Battle of Hogwarts so you already know that we're nicer than most of the people currently in your house," Luna explained as if she were talking about the migration patterns of wild salmon.

Draco seemed to be weighing his options.As nice as the concept of not being alone for the year sounded, he knew it couldn't be true. This was probably some ploy to get him to humiliate himself by crawling back to the people who he'd mocked for his entire Hogwarts career. But then, on the other hand, he was _so_ tired. Tired of being alone, tired of the self-loathing, just tired. So, to everyone's surprise, he took a step forward.

"Why should I believe you?" he asked apprehensively.

Harry sighed, "Because we're much less of prats than you. Now just sit down so we can all make each other miserable."

After Hermione explained the rules for the second time (Draco was appalled that they were playing a _Muggle_ game), they finally were able to get started playing. A tradition was in the making.

**Author's Note: Soooo what truths/dares would you guys like to see in this? This is mostly going to be a humor fic so I will be taking all suggestions that are in character and will fit! So feel free to suggest away! **


	2. Chapter 2

**** Hello lovelies! Here is the second chapter! Make sure you leave any suggestions in the comments! They make the story more interesting! If your suggestion isn't put into this chapter never fear! It will most definetly be put in as soon as I can get it to fit naturally into the circle. Everyone loves Draco (including me) but I need to let the others have some fun too. Enjoy! **

"Alright, erm… Harry. Truth or dare?" Hermione asked.

"Mmmm…" Harry considered for a moment, "Dare."

"Right well…" Hermione scanned the grounds for inspiration. Finally, her line of vision stopped at Professor McGonagall, who was trying to rein in Peeves, still looking for the escaped Ginny.

"You have to give this," she quickly conjured up a rose, "To Professor McGonagall. And you can't tell her that we're playing truth or dare," she added this with a devious smirk.

Harry stood up and took the rose. "Right then," he resignedly said, "Time to confess my undying love."

The group was already shaking with laughter. Only Draco and Luna retained wooden expressions.

"Professor, please don't ask me to explain this," Harry mumbled, thrusting the rose towards his teacher. Peeves apparently valued escape from the professor and free reign over the school over teasing Harry, and he quickly sped off.

McGonagall didn't seem surprised at all as she took it. "I take it that you lot are playing truth or dare," she said stiffly, nodding towards the group.

"How did you-?"

"Mr. Potter, I have been here a long time, and this isn't the first instance when a student has brought that wretched game here."

"Oh, well then uh-,"

"You can save it, Potter. Just promise me you won't do too much damage. Peeves is enough trouble," she sighed, now watching the ghost throw small pumpkins at Hagrid as he attempted to teach class.

"We'll be careful Professor," Harry promised, awkwardly backing away.

"Oh and Potter?"

"Yes?"

"I'm not interested." Harry thought he saw the smallest smirk creep across her face before she quickly returned it back to her trademark poker face.

"What did she say?" Ron asked Harry through snickers.

"She said she's not interested," Harry muttered.

There was an uproar of laughter from the group. Harry made a mental note to himself to get back at Hermione for this later in the game.

"Potter, you can't even get a teacher to love you," Draco smirked, starting to laugh a little.

"Oh shut it, Malfoy, you couldn't even get him to be your _friend_ in first year!" Neville shot back with a grin. It seemed to effectively quiet the Slytherin.

"Harry, it's your turn," Hermione reminded her friend as the laughter quieted down.

"Ron. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Hmmmmm… tell everyone in the circle an embarrassing thought you had about them once."

"Mother of Merlin, Harry, I thought we were friends," Ron put his face into his hands in mock agony, "Alright well, here goes. Harry, once in first year I thought about how big your shoes were and if my feet were freakishly large compared to the famous Harry Potter. And I wondered if you would stop being friends with me if my shoes were too big."

As Harry sat, mouth agape, not sure whether to laugh or not, Ron continued, "Neville, one time I honestly wondered if your wand was defective, and that was why you were so bad at magic."

"Ron that's awful!" Hermione scolded, half laughing.

"What the hell, man?" Harry asked.

"Merlin, Weasley, even I've got more tact than that."

"Hey, you all wanted the truth, now I'm giving you the truth. Ginny, when you were born, I hoped that you would be a really annoying baby so that mum and dad would stop already."

"WHAT?" Ginny exclaimed. Draco seemed to find this especially hilarious, and couldn't restrain his laughter any longer. He had a strange laugh; like it hadn't been used often in life.

"Draco, I have on several occasions wondered to myself how often you get sunburned, with you having about as much tint to your skin as an unpeeled onion."

"That's hilarious coming from a ginger, Weasley,"

"Hermione, when Umbridge was teaching here, sometimes in class I hoped that you would get so angry with her that you'd slip something in her tea."

"I considered it on many occasions."

"No you didn't, Granger," Draco turned to her in disbelief.

"You don't know Hermione, Draco," Ginny defended her friend, "She's a good girl in class ,but you do _not_ want to get on her bad side. Well, you would know all about that though," she added, referring to the time Hermione slapped Draco in third year.

"I always assumed you were in a bad temper that day," he mumbled.

"No, Draco, she was just tired of your shit," Ron took back control of the conversation, "And I think just Luna's left, right? Erm, Luna. Sometimes the fact that you're in Ravenclaw makes me question the meaning of the universe, because I have to reconsider the whole definition of smart."

Harry thought that this was a little hurtful, and was ready for Neville to get angry and leave with his girlfriend, but was relieved when Luna, unphazed, only answered with a small, almost pitying smile at Ron, "You cannot judge a fish's ability to swim by how well it can climb a tree." Neville just looked at her lovingly. While Ron still looked as though he thought Luna mad, Harry and most of the circle knew the truth: Luna was probably wiser than the lot of them put together.

While everyone else pondered this mystifying fact, Ron spoke up. "Right then, so… Ginny. Truth or dare?"

"Dare, naturally," she said with a smirk, "And make it something exciting, will you?"

While Ron could be perfectly capable of asking Draco or Neville to do something humiliating, Harry knew he could never do the same to his baby sister. Harry admitted to himself that he was secretly a happy about this.

"I dare you… to braid Neville's hair."

"That all you got Weasley?" Draco seemed bored.

"I'm can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree, Draco." Neville confirmed.

"We'll see if you think the same thing when I'm through with you," Ginny said ominously as she moved behind Neville, "Now, I think I'm going to go for a sort of fairy-princess-at-a-picnic look if you get what I mean." As she attempted to gather his ebony hair into the beginnings of a braid, however, it was clear that it would be no easy task.

"I'm going to need more to work with," she said casually, "Engorgio."

"Ginny, no!" Neville protested as his hair grew up to triple its original length.

"Ah, much better," Ginny smiled as the rest of the group snickered. "Hermione, conjure me up some flowers, will you?"

After Hermione had handed the redhead the large, white daisies she had conjured, Ginny began to braid, artfully weaving flowers in as she went. Once the braid was finished, she stood back to admire her work.

"Neville, you look so beautiful in the moonlight," Ron teased.

"Quite the fashion statement you're making there," Draco added.

"Doesn't it suit me?" Neville parried back, doing some sort of ridiculous pose.

"Merlin, I'm so turned on right now," Ginny smirked.

"You should wear it like this every day, Neville," Luna seemed to be joining in. Though from her tone, Harry wasn't sure if she was serious or not.

After the last cat calls and snickers had died down, and the last daisies had been removed from Neville's now normal length hair, it was Ginny's turn.

"Hmmm… Draco. Truth or dare?"

Draco started at actually being called on. He wished it was someone other than the Weasley girl who got to decide his fate. Perhaps Hermione…

"Dare."

"Kiss Hermione and Luna."

**A/N: I know, I know. Cliffhanger. I'm a bad kid. But aren't you excited to see what happens? Mwahahahahaha… I'll try to update soon! **** Don't forget to leave suggestions because I love hearing them and including them!**


	3. Chapter 3

** Hello all! Not much to really say here… enjoy the next chapter! **

_I should have known_, Draco thought, angry at himself. They didn't really want him in the group. They just wanted to get him to embarrass himself. He could almost hear his father's voice in his ear, telling him that he should have stayed with _honorable_ wizards.

_I'm their afternoon entertainment._ Draco didn't want to admit it to himself, but he felt a little disappointed that this was all just a ploy. On top of that, to think of kissing a _Mudblood_…

_No_, he thought of his mother, writhing on the floor, screaming, and remembered why he wasn't across the lawn with the Slytherins. Though that didn't make this group saints, either…

"C'mon, Draco," Ginny encouraged.

"This is the game, mate," Harry added.

The friendly tone of Harry's voice seemed to snap Draco out of his funk. He thought about how Harry had helped him during the battle of Hogwarts. He looked at Hermione and Luna. Luna was just gently smiling at Neville, and Hermione seemed to be the subject of a joke Ginny was making. These people were different than who he had grown up with in his house. He took a deep breath.

"Well, given that you didn't specify _where_ I have to kiss them…"

"Oh that's right! It has to be on the mouth!" Ginny added with a wicked smile.

"Dammit Ginny," Draco complained, using her first name without thinking, "Any other specifications, while you're at it?"

"Mother of Merlin, if you try to add minimum time to this I will make you wish you'd never been born," Ron threatened his sister, glancing at Hermione.

"I already wish I'd never been born sometimes, wonwon," Ginny shot back, using her brother's old nickname.

"Never speak that name!"

"Do I want to know what that is?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. Trust me, you don't," Hermione answered, scooting over to where Draco sat in the circle. Before Draco could protest, she had planted a full-on kiss onto his pale white lips. After she pulled away, Draco sat there dumbfounded, mouth agape, trying to think about how he was supposed to react as the rest made their comments and finished teasing Hermione. Draco silently prayed that no one important ever found out about this…

"Luna, don't forget to get yours!" Ginny smirked. Harry patted Neville on the back as Draco gave the Ravenclaw a small peck on the mouth.

"Hooray, now you know what it's like to kiss a Slytherin," Ron seemed irritated, "Draco _please_ get on with this fast because I want to get that image out of my mind."

"Potter," Draco picked Harry relatively quickly; he seemed to already have some ideas.

"Will you ever start calling me Harry?"

"I'm asking the questions, Potter. Truth or dare?"

Harry thought for a moment. Which could Draco be more cruelly creative with?

"Truth."

"Hmmm…" Draco tried to think of something good, "Tell us all about something embarrassing that happened to you at Hogwarts."

"Alright, well, a few of you already know this story, but it happened in my fourth year. After the first challenge in the Triwizard tournament, I was trying to figure out the golden egg. Long story short, I ended up taking it into the prefect's bathroom with me and-"

"Where is this going?" Draco seemed horrified.

"You wanted embarrassing," Harry didn't bother correcting his train of thought, "Anyway, so I don't know if you already knew this, Draco, but Moaning Myrtle sort of had a _thing_ for me. She still does. So she sort of found out I was in there, taking a bath with this egg. And she talked to me for so long that all the bubbles started disappearing and… well to this day I pray that she never talks about it again."

"How come I've never heard this one, Harry?" Ginny asked between laughs.

"Because I don't like the idea of it going around," Harry replied, exasperated. He was chuckling along with the rest of them.

"Okay, erm… Neville. Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Okay," Harry looked around the group, "Does anyone have a good one? I can't think of any."

"I've got one," Draco got up and whispered it to him.

"Good one," Harry smirked as the blonde returned to his seat, "Neville, you have to make a face at Ron that is guaranteed to make him uncomfortable."

"Ron you ready for this?" Neville faked a serious tone that sounded mildly suggestive.

"Merlin help me," Ron muttered.

"Alright, I- Hermione stop," as Neville fell into a fit of laughter, everyone looked over at Hermione, but she seemed to just be casually sitting there, "Ginny, you too. I need to mentally prepare," he added between laughs.

The Gryffindor took a deep breath to gain his serious face back. He looked Ron dead in the eyes with a more sexual expression than Harry could have ever pictured on his face. He didn't blink as he ran his tongue over his bottom lip. This seemed to be Ron's breaking point.

"Merlin's cock, Neville! That's enough! I was scarred as a person _before_ seeing that!" Ron exclaimed as the group exploded into laughter.

"That was brilliant, Neville," Harry gasped, wiping a tear from his eye.

"That's okay, I didn't really want to sleep tonight anyway," Draco added, trying to sound disappointed.

"You certainly won't be if that's what Neville is like after dark," Ginny could barely breathe from laughter. Luna seemed to find this especially hilarious.

"Luna," Neville gasped, still shaking with laughs, "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," she answered, her serene self again.

"Have you ever fancied a teacher?"

"Well I used to think Binns was rather handsome," she confessed as she looked up at the clouds.

"_The HISTORY OF MAGIC TEACHER?" _Draco exclaimed.

"Who the hell else?" Ron snorted.

_ "_Quite," Luna answered Draco with a completely straight face.

"But, erm, Luna… he's a ghost," Harry wondered about her sometimes…

"A handsome ghost."

"I could see that," Hermione added, nodding rather matter of factly.

"These are the people I spent my Hogwarts career with…" Ron pretended to shake his head in shame.

"Ron, truth or dare?" Luna asked the redhead.

"Truth."

"If you could be any type of fruit, what kind would you be?"

"Uh…" Ron searched his mind. Somehow, he had been completely dumbfounded by Luna's simple question. Several moments passed.

"I suppose um… a pear?"

"Really? I would have thought you more a cherry," Luna cocked her head to the side, studying Ron. No one could tell, but Hermione's mind was working a mile a minute, trying to figure out what she was missing. As much as she loved Luna, she would always be secretly frustrated at times like this.

"Right… well, I suppose it's my turn again isn't it?" Ron wanted to change the subject. He seemed to be harboring the false idea that he had just embarrassed Luna.

"Maybe think of an actually entertaining idea this time, Weasley," Draco said with a little too much of a sneer in his voice, remembering Neville's hair braiding.

"Fine then. Draco, truth or dare?" Ron shot back. It was clear that he was going to be the last out of the group to get used to the Slytherin.

"Truth."

"Out of everyone in this group, who would you kiss, marry, or sleep with. You can't say the same person more than once."

"Well, the fact that there's only three girls to choose from makes this a more difficult question…" he looked from Ginny, to Hermione, to Luna.

"You've already kissed two of your options, so it can't be that hard," Neville pointed out.

Draco nodded as he answered, "Right then. I suppose I'd kiss Hermione, marry Luna, and sleep with Ginny."

"Not interested, sorry," Ginny patted Draco's shoulder jokingly, ignoring how he seemed to flinch. The group laughed at her comment, remembering Harry's encounter with McGonnagal earlier that day.

_He would marry the Pureblood, sleep with the blood traitor, and kiss me._ Hermione tried not to feel hurt by the pattern she could pick out. Perhaps his parent's twisted ideas were more drilled into him than she had thought.

"Hermione, truth or dare?" Her head snapped towards Draco.

"Truth," she answered casually.

"Wait! I have a good one," Neville urgently spoke up.

"Fine, let's hear it," Draco sighed as he motioned Neville towards him.

"Honestly?" he scoffed, upon hearing Neville's request, "If you really think it's so good."

"What is it?" Hermione asked, looking apprehensive.

"Longbottom wants to know what you were laughing at when you first came up with the idea to play this game."

**A/N: Hope you guys liked it! It honestly took me quite a bit of motivation to write this, as I recently started reading The Hobbit and just want to curl up and read it. I knew you guys were waiting though, and didn't want to put it off too long. Oh and as a note to the people who don't like Dramione, because I know there's a few: you don't **_**have**_** to read this. I warned in the beginning of the story that there would be a little Dramione, so if it's too much for you to handle then you can feel free to leave. I don't mean to be harsh, but I write firstly for my enjoyment and I'm not going to bend my story to your will. Aside from if you have good truths or dares for the group **


	4. Chapter 4

**Annnndddd the next installment is here! Enjoy!**

Hermione blushed furiously. She had been a fool to think this group would forget her out of character actions at the beginning of the game.

"_Fine..." _she hoped that by some miracle this wouldn't get a reaction from them.

"Several summers ago, before Voldemort was an issue, I was sleeping over at a friend's house-"

"Shocking," Ginny smirked.

"Will you let me tell the story? I was sleeping over at a friend's house, and me and this girl were quite close. She was probably one of my closest friends outside of Hogwarts and there were a few other people there as well. Anyway, we started playing truth or dare and things got, well… some people there were a bit competitive and wanted revenge for something I made them do. Because, well, it's a game," she said defensively, "And I basically got dared to strip down to my underwear and run through the sprinkler until I was soaking wet."

To the many confused looks she got, she added, "A sprinkler is a sort of thing that Muggles use to water their gardens. It sort of just sprays water everywhere."

"_Merlin _Hermione," Neville was in shock.

"Are _all _Muggles like that?" Draco asked a tomato red Hermione.

"No. Only the really sick minded ones," she joked at her nonpresent friends' expense, "Oh and I should add that the very conservative neighbors saw me. I'm sure they thought that I was a drugged prostitute."

Everyone seemed to find this extremely funny, save for Draco who still seemed shocked to hear that Hermione spent time with _Muggle_ girls who seemed to have such _primitive_ forms of amusement. Harry and the rest of the group, however, would be left to ponder how a girl like Hermione could do something so…. _not Hermione._ Although, Harry thought to himself, maybe there was an entire level of Hermione's personality that he wasn't aware of. He thought about how different she had been at the Yule ball. Maybe when she was with Ron things were like that, too. He inwardly cringed at this thought.

"Alright, there. You've heard it. It was a one time thing and I would never do it again," Hermione was finally returning to her normal color, "Now if you ever speak of it to anyone, I'll see to it that you never see the light again. Neville, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to fly a lap around the castle on a broomstick. While doing this, you must continuously drop flowers and yell 'I love beets'".

"But if I'm dropping flowers, then why am I yelling about beets?"

"It doesn't matter. This is your dare."

"Prepare to be amazed," Neville half heartedly proclaimed. He quickly summoned a broomstick and mounted it, zooming off before they could make any last minute changes to make his task worse.

_Here goes nothing_…

"I LOVE BEETS! ORCHIDEOUS! ORCHIDEIOUS!" he bellowed as loudly as he dared, flinging the flowers escaping his wand as far as possible. Most of them flew directly behind him, as he was flying faster than he usually would dare. His knuckles were white as he whisked past classroom windows and towers of every size, thinking of nothing other than arriving on the ground safely.

Back at the oak tree, the group was doing their best to spot their friend, who was flying as high as humanly possible on a broom.

"Not the first bad experience he's had with a broom," Harry commented, thinking back to first year.

Ron snorted, "Mate, I'm pretty sure this is worse. He's throwing flowers and Draco's our _friend_ now." The Slytherin frowned at this.

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, Weasley," he said ominously.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Luna chirped, adjusting her Spectrespecs in an attempt to see her boyfriend better.

"Here he comes!" Ginny pointed to a speck high by Ravenclaw tower, rapidly growing larger and more defined. There still appeared to be flowers practically pouring out from behind it.

"How was your ride, Longbottom?" Draco called to Neville as he closed the distance to his friends.

"Thrilling," he gasped as he dismounted. Hermione cast a worried glance at his white knuckles and winded demeanor.

"Don't worry, Hermione," he smiled, not wanting her to feel bad, "It was… invigorating. Though I can't say I'll ever be able to speak of beets again."

This seemed to clear Hermione's conscious. "Okay, now that that's over," Neville declared as he sat back down, "Ron. Truth or dare?"

"Merlin… um, dare?"

"Hmmmm… oh!" Neville gave Hermione a very out of character grin, causing an apprehensive look to cloud both her and her partner's faces. This could not end well for either of them. Neville seemed to be out for revenge.

"Ron, you have to make out with Hermione for 30 seconds while we all watch."

Said redhead and Hermione both exploded. "WHAT?!"

"Longbottom, there's no need to scar _all_ of us," Draco seemed genuinely disgusted.

"I know! This is my _brother_ for Merlin's sake!" Ginny protested.

"Too bad. Feel my wrath, Hermione," said Neville with a pleased smile. Harry was beginning to think that this game brings out the worst in people. He'd never thought Neville as the vengeful sort… but he couldn't say that he didn't mind the new, braver persona that the Battle of Hogwarts seemed to have given his friend.

Ron and Hermione moved into the center of the circle. "Okay, wait. We need someone to keep track of time," Harry reminded everyone. He didn't want this to go on any longer than it had to.

"I'll do it," Draco volunteered, thinking the same thing.

As the couple leaned in closer and started to kiss, many in the group seemed to find it too much to watch. Ginny seemed to find it particularly disturbing.

"Careful, Ronald. Don't want to accidently inhale her face," the petite ginger sneered.

Draco's face, meanwhile, was contorted into the sort of expression someone would wear while watching a person eat horse dung, if one ever was to encounter such a thing. Harry prayed that he was still keeping track of time. Luna seemed to be mesmerized by a small inchworm moving through the grass, and Neville looked as if he was regretting his decision not only to give Ron such an _enjoyable_ task, but also to have thought that involving Hermione was a good idea.

Suddenly, Draco spoke up. "TIME!" he crowed loud enough for everyone to hear. Ron and Hermione continued writhing together.

The Slytherin cleared his throat again. "I _said_, TIME!" he yelled louder than ever. The pair in the center finally broke apart. They both seemed to have forgotten they were playing a game. Both blushed furiously as they returned to their places in the circle.

"I can never unsee that," Draco mumbled to himself grumpily.

"It's okay, at least they had fun," Luna seemed a bit green. Neville chuckled. His girlfriend seemed to be slightly horrified at the reminder that this was how her friends acted in private.

"Ron, please just finish your turn," Hermione sqeaked.

"RIGHT!" he jumped slightly, "Luna? Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"If you had to kill anyone in this circle, who would it be?" Ron was ready to move away from the sexual side of this game and hear some innocence from the Ravenclaw.

"You," she didn't hesitate for a moment.

"What? Why him?" Hermione seemed almost offended.

"Yea, why not him?" Ginny gestured towards Draco. "Luna, you've known Ron for years."

"Well, I can't kill Harry, because he's only just killed Voldemort and is only just beginning to live a normal life. I can't kill you, Ginny, because from what I've seen of your and Harry's relationship and each of your personalities, no one else could ever make either of you happy if one died. Neither of you would ever get over it. I can't kill Neville for obvious reasons. Draco, either, because he's starting to awaken from the brainwashing he's received his entire life, and I'd hate to ruin the chance of anyone to see the world at least for a little while from a less ignorant point of view. Lastly I chose Ron over Hermione because Ron has, quite frankly, lived a life filled with family and comfort, aside from the Voldemort issue, and I suppose I could see Hermione moving on from his death eventually, and perhaps finding happiness with someone else. She's too logical not to."

Aside from the fact that he had never heard Luna speak so much at once in his entire time knowing her, Harry wasn't that shocked by the way she plainly stated her logic. Besides Neville, however, the rest of the group remained shocked. Mostly about their friend's comments on Draco and Hermione. The Slytherin was trying to stop himself from defending his family's name, as it would disprove the… compliment he'd just been given. Hermione meanwhile, wasn't sure if she could ever get over Ron's death, and was rather offended that Luna thought her so heartless as to let mere logic get in the way of her love for him. Though perhaps her friend was more correct than she wanted to let on. While she hated to admit it, Luna was, actually, quite wise.

"It's getting quite dark out," the Ravenclaw broke up everyone's brooding to point out that night was indeed falling.

"Maybe we should go inside," Hermione suggested, pulling her jacket tighter around her.

"Merlin, I can't believe we played all day," Neville marveled.

"Should we meet here tomorrow? Same time?" Harry asked the group.

To the many nods and words of confirmation, the group got up and began the long walk to the dining hall, Draco trailing slightly behind the others. His mind was in a much darker place than the rest of theirs, he was sure. The image was in his mind again of his mother writhing on their living room carpet. The dark lord's cold shouts of disapproval. Aunt Bella's steadily dropping sanity. Where did _he_ belong? He certainly didn't want a part of that. And being with this group was so _easy_…

No, it wasn't easy. Accepting an invitation is the easy part. What would be a lot harder would be facing the rest of his house. As he realized this, he decided he would skip supper tonight and avoid walking in with the people he'd betrayed his honor with. At least he could prolong the time before the eventual confrontation a for a little longer.

**A/N- What'd ya think, lovelies? I actually just added the Draco thing at the end on a whim; didn't initially intend to put more serious character development in this. Ah, well, let's see where it goes I suppose. Any truths or dares that you would like to suggest are always welcome! I feel a need to point out that I have **_**tons**_** for Draco already so it's helpful to get some with, say, Neville or Ginny. Although, I suppose better to have an excess for one character than to have none at all! And I know we all love watching our Slytherin friend embarrass himself **** See you soon!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Thank you so much for all of the lovely feedback and reviews! You have no idea how happy it makes me to receive them! Your suggestions were also quite wonderfully devious ;) mwahahaha this is gonna be a fun few chapters. Oh and by the way, I feel the need to warn you that there will be a bit (or more) of cursing from Draco in this chapter. Enjoy!**

The next morning, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were the first of the group to arrive under their favorite tree, Ron carrying a large stack of toast. There was some speculation as to whether Draco would be with them again today, but their suspicions were proved wrong when the platinum blonde was the fourth person to arrive.

"Hey, Malfoy," Harry greeted his… acquaintance? Draco nodded in acknowledgement.

"How were the dungeons?" Ron asked.

"Green and full of shit." Draco was beginning to question how he had ever _tolerated _the people in his house. The difference between them and this group was simply staggering. Though perhaps the fact that the vast majority of Slytherin (and the other houses for that matter) now constantly stared at him with a mixture of fear and disgust had a hand in this. For Merlin's sake, they looked at him like he was some sort of _Squib _freak.

At this thought, the rest of the group came trotting over to where they sat in the shade. As Ginny sat down, she commented, "Sorry we're a little late. I ran into these two," she gestured towards Luna and Neville, "in the Great Hall and made them wait for me while I ran up to the dorms to get something."

"What did you go back up there for?" Ron questioned.

Ginny seemed to be waiting for this question, "You'll see…"

Her brother gulped. It seemed Ginny was out for blood today.

"Alright, then," Harry spoke up, "So we left off with Luna, right?"

"Right," Luna chimed, "Draco, truth or dare?"

Draco considered for a moment. This was Luna, how bad of a dare could she possibly come up with?

"Dare."

"I dare you to go over to Hagrid and help him with his animals."

"WAIT!" Ginny interjected. She whispered something in Luna's ear.

"Oh and you aren't allowed to speak whilst doing it," the Ravenclaw added.

"WHAT?" Draco protested, "That's completely unfair, Weasley!"

Ginny merely shrugged and moved back to her spot in the circle. No one made a move to defend Draco, and so with a huff he set off for the half-giant's hut, the others trailing behind him. No one said anything, but they were all quite eager to watch the former bully working for the man he had treated so poorly most of his life.

When they finally reached the hut, Draco gave the group one last scathing look before he curtly knocked on Hagrid's door, praying that there would be no answer. His prayers went unanswered, however, and the large man opened the door mid-knock, nearly sending the Slytherin tumbling forward.

"Hiya there, Harry! What's this here? You've brought quite the group here. Hermione and Ron and Ginny and… er, Malfoy?" Hagrid frowned as his gaze finally dropped to the blonde standing before him, "So, er, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Harry loudly coughed, signaling to Draco that this was his queue. He frantically started motioning towards himself, the pumpkin patch, and Hagrid, hoping deeply that he might spark some small, uncovered bit of intelligence in the brute. All he managed to do was confuse the large man even more.

"We don't know what's wrong with him, Professor," Ginny said with a note of solemnity, "He's been acting quite strange lately. We think he came wandering down here because he wanted to help you. Poor thing… I think he may have knocked a screw loose with the stress from the battle and all…"

Draco flushed angrily and threw Ginny a look that could wither a garden, but as he opened his mouth to protest, he found that nothing came out. That was when he saw the mischievous grin spreading across Hermione's face.

_That bitch cursed me!_ He inwardly screamed, _She has no right! Merlin fucking dammit, I'm stuck with this now!_

"Oh, well, er, I suppose if he wants to help, I was just in the middle of moving some of the newly hatched Blast-Ended Skrewts into new cages. Their mommas and pappas create too big o flames fer them to handle. Er, follow me, Mr. Malfoy," Hagrid looked more uncomfortable than Harry had ever seen him.

"Professor, do you mind if we watch? It'd be nice to gain some insight for class later this week," even Neville was joining into the game now.

_I am going to skin you alive you son of a bitch,_ Draco was about ready to kill.

"Oh o course, Mr. Longbottom, and bring the rest in, too," Hagrid was still oblivious to the role he was playing.

"Alrigh' Mr. Malfoy. Now what yer gonna do is just try to pick em up without hurtin yerself too badly, and just move em o'er there to that empty cage. Feel free to use magic, but if you drop one and hurt it, I'll have yer head!"

"But, Hagrid," Hermione asked innocently, "Won't the mothers be angry when their children are taken from them?" Ginny was nearly choking with silent laughter.

"Oh, yea," Hagrid answered as he picked up a skrewt, "That's where most people get their worst burns from these guys. But they're just protectin their young, like you and I would."

Part of Draco was happy that Hermione had cursed him into silence, because if he had been able to speak, he surely would have gotten at least a week's worth of detentions for foul language. As each "baby" skrewt (they sure didn't look like babies to him) singed his robes, he let loose a mental string of profanities that definitely, if he was at home, would have gotten his mouth washed out with soap.

Finally, the skrewts were almost completely sorted. As he levitated the last (and largest) one, he thought he had finished on a good note. As he threw a smirk towards his friends (still heaving with silent laughter) the stupid thing decided to let loose a huge ball of flame, setting the tie of his robes on fire. He quickly threw it into the cage (to protests from Hagrid), and put out the fire that had disfigured his clothing.

He was positively seething with anger.

As they turned to leave with many half laughed "Goodbye, Hagrid"s, said man waved them off good naturedly, still with a slightly confused look on his face.

Just as Draco thought that he was home free, however, Hagrid decided to get one last word in.

"And if ye ever want ter come back an' help s'more, Mr. Malfoy, feel free!"

This was where the entire group lost it; though one member in a different fashion. As Draco spun on his heel and attempted to curse Hagrid off, his fury was only increased when all he could do was mouth profanities at the oaf. He ended up settling for a rude hand gesture and stalking off in the direction of the oak tree. The rest of the group did their best to follow him. Ron and Ginny were actually on the ground with laughter, and Harry and Neville were clutching their sides and bent over.

"He'll keep that in mind, sir!" Luna wasn't even teasing the other blonde. She seemed to be satisfied that he had been humbled enough, so she led the rest of the group in following the Slytherin. Hagrid just gave a them a last smile and returned to his hut.

When they reached the oak tree, where Draco was waiting for them, Hermione lifted the curse she had put on him.

"SON OF A MUGGLE'S BITCH DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN! MOTHER OF FUCK!"

It was actually quite lucky that the first term wasn't directed at Hermione, but was used as an exclamatory word. Otherwise Harry, who was now explaining this to Ron, wouldn't have hesitated to hold him back.

"Hey! Watch your language, Malfoy. I know you were raised ignorant but Merlin, you don't have to stay that way," Ginny had finally stopped laughing.

"I was _not_ raised ignorant," Malfoy grumbled to himself. He hated looking the fool.

"Yea, well, great dare, Luna!" Neville complimented, smiling at the pleased blonde.

"I didn't know you had it in you," Ron marveled.

"Well you supplied the taunting and the curse," Luna replied almost smugly.

"Right!" Draco now felt fresh anger bubbling up in him, "That wasn't fair! It wasn't part of the dare."

"Just think of it as your initiation," Ron replied breezily.

"Plus, now you have a chance for revenge," as Ginny said this she looked at Hermione deviously.

"Actually, that's a fantastic idea," Draco acknowledged calmly, "Ginny, truth or dare?"

"Dare," she was plainly provoking him now, "Do your worst."

"Fine. Strip naked and jump in the lake, if you're so brave," Draco crossed his singed arms and smirked. His eyes had a dangerous look in them.

"WHAT? No way my sister is doing that, you perverted freak!" Ron had challenged the dare before Ginny could even reply.

"I _want_ to do it, Ron. Just because you could never do it, doesn't mean I can't," the redhead was already getting up.

"Ginny, is this really the best idea? I mean what if Filch sees you? Or Slughorn?" Harry really hoped she would listen to Ron and him.

There was no reply from her as she slipped behind some bushes nearby. This was Ginny, and she was going to do this, no matter how much trouble it could possibly get her into. After all, she wasn't going to chicken out of a dare from _Malfoy._

"Harry, would you hold my clothes for me?" Ginny asked brightly from behind the greenery.

He in response got up and stood with his back to the bush respectfully. Soon Ginny's still warm robes were being thrust into his arms, and he awkwardly tried to fold it so that her underwear would stay hidden in the pile.

"I hope you all are ready for this!" Ginny called.

"Ginny is this really-" Neville never got to finish his sentence, because just then a completely naked form shot out of the bushes, causing no one's eyes to go wider than Harry's. The only Weasley daughter was a blur of white skin and red hair as she streaked towards the lake, which luckily wasn't a completely unreasonable distance away. Though, if you are naked, every distance is unreasonable.

Ginny wasted no time as she shot straight past two first year Ravenclaws who looked as though they might faint, right onto one of the old, rotten docks. She only got about two strides in before she was upon the water.

"BEAT THAT, SLYTHERIN!" she screamed with glee as she took a great leap off of the dock and crashed into the cold water. Harry, meanwhile, was already on his way towards the lake with the mound of clothes.

As a completely drenched Ginny returned to the group, they all erupted into cheers. Malfoy seemed to actually be just as horrified as Ron was. He shook his head as he slowly added to the applause.

"You're mad, Weasley," he scoffed. He suddenly felt incredibly jealous and wasn't quite sure why.

Ron shook his head in shock, "Draco, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree. You'd better hope mum doesn't find out." He directed this last part at his sister.

Ginny merely rolled her eyes and sat down with a smirk.

**A/N: Wow, this was a little longer than usual! It was quite fun to write, though. I'm sorry if Hagrid wasn't that great. It was my first time writing him and I actually had trouble remembering his accent (it's been a while since I've last read the books). :) Remember to leave any suggestions for truths/dares you've got floating around in your head! I'll start writing the next chapter soon! Hmm I wonder what Ginny was so eager for at the beginning of this chapter… :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hola! So here's the next installment… and thank you again for all of the lovely reviews! Oh, by the way, there will be some (or a lot) of swearing from Ginny in this chapter. **

"Ron, truth or dare?" Ginny asked her brother with a glint in her eye. This couldn't mean anything good.

Ron sighed. He might as well get this over with. It wasn't wise to defy Ginny, and he knew what she wanted.

"…dare."

"You poor, poor fool," Draco shook his head.

"Good luck," Harry patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Alright, Ronny," Ginny grinned evilly and produced something from the inside of her robes. It looked like a simple Bertie Bott's package.

"See this?"

"Do I look blind?" Ron tried to hide his fear underneath a snippy tone.

"This is every disgusting bean I have ever knowingly encountered over the years. And you're going to eat all of them."

_Perfect task for Weasley_, Draco mentally snickered.

Ron leaned across the circle, having already accepted his grim fate.

"It was nice knowing you all," he said solemnly. Not wasting any more time, he opened the package and popped a bright red bean into his mouth. Harry wondered if there was any possibility of this dare actually hurting his friend.

"_Ugh_," the redhead nearly spit out the first bean. At this rate, the rest of the challenge was only going to get more painful to watch.

"What flavor was it?" Neville asked.

"_Blood,_" Ron finally had managed to choke it down.

"Oh, come on! That's probably the best one in the bag!" Ginny was clearly enjoying herself. What her brother had done to deserve this, they would never know. Neville actually felt a little bad for the Weasley.

Ron took another bean from the package. This time, it was a dark green. He had a confused look on his face as he slowly chewed it. Finally, after swallowing, he looked up at the group. Everyone was staring intently at him.

"What?" he demanded.

"Well what was it?" Draco exclaimed.

"Oh so I have to classify each one, too?" Ron was indignant.

"That's part of the fun!" Ginny confirmed, "I mean, it's interesting to me, finding out what sick flavors I had lurking in there."

"You're sick," Ron said as he took another bean, "And it was like eating a Christmas tree."

"Why don't you take several at once?" Harry suggested.

"Yea, it'll be easier that way," Neville added.

"Plus, shoving food down your throat is one of your few talents," Draco smirked. His smile disappeared at the look he was given by Ron.

Said Weasley decided to take his friends' advice and poured a handful of beans into his hand.

"I guess I've lived a full life."

His face contorted into a hideous expression as he brought his jaw down on the beans.

"How is it?" Luna asked tentatively.

Ron didn't answer as he chewed. He kept his hand at his mouth to prevent himself from involuntarily spitting out the mass he was chewing. After he finally managed to swallow, his sister couldn't resist from asking again.

"What was it like this time?"

"Like biting into a trashcan full of… _ugh,_" Ron shuddered, "I don't want to talk about it." He barely got this out before he started to gag. Harry and Luna, who were sitting on either side of him, moved away, just as a precautionary measure.

"Weasley, hasn't he done enough? This is painful to watch, and any more of those and it'll be even _more_ painful," Draco directed this at Ginny.

"Nope," the Weasley sister wouldn't budge, "C'mon, Ron. You've only got a handful left. Be a man."

Quickly, Ron dumped the rest of the beans down his throat. It didn't even look as though he chewed some of them, he just swallowed them like pills. The ones that he did chew, however, went down in a similar way to the previous lot.

Once all of the beans had disappeared, Ron gasped, "That wasn't so bad."

"Yes, I could see by the way your face was contorted as though you were eating horse shit," Draco sneered.

"Oh no," Ron quickly got up and ran for the bushes.

"You just _had_ to say it didn't you," Harry scolded the Slytherin. Though he could tell from Draco's expression at the noises coming from behind the bushes that he didn't need to be told off.

When Ron came back, wiping his mouth, it was clear that the whole group either felt disgusted or sorry for the redhead… or a mixture of the two. As he sat down, he demanded of his sister, "Satisfied?"

"Don't be a baby. Half the school saw me naked and I didn't complain," Ginny reminded him.

Not wanting a fight to break out, Hermione spoke up, "Ron, who are you going to ask?"

"Harry," Ron slowly turned towards his friend, not wanting to upset his stomach, "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Hmmm…" the Weasley looked around the circle, "You have to… stage a break up with my sister. We need some comic relief."

Harry and Ginny both got up to stand opposite the tree, where the entire group could see them.

"Scene," Neville muttered. Harry chuckled at this.

He took a deep, dramatic breath, doing his best to imitate the people on those ridiculous soap operas that Aunt Petunia used to watch. "Ginny, I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it, Harry?" Ginny was horribly overdramatic as she turned to face her boyfriend, using her most obvious "Innocent girl" voice.

"You know I love you… right?" Harry took both of her hands in his. Draco mock-vomited at this.

"Of course, Harry. Is something wrong?" she widened her eyes so that she looked like some sort of lost animal.

"Then you know that I love you enough… to let you go," he this time stole an entire line.

"Wha… what?" the puppy eyes faltered slightly.

"We can't be together anymore."

"NOOOOOOO!" Ginny positively screamed, causing the entire group to jump, including Harry.

"YOU CHEATING BASTARD! WHO WAS IT? IT WAS THAT BARMAID FROM ACROSS THE STREET, WASN'T IT? THAT FILTHY WHORE!"

"There was no cheating involved!" Harry assured. It was hard to tell whether he was genuinely frightened or not.

"DON'T BULLSHIT ME!"

Draco snorted at this, causing the entire group to erupt into laughter. Hermione was having trouble sitting upright.

After the laughter had died down enough so that everyone could hear, Harry and Ginny continued their scene.

"Fine, you really want to know who it was?" Harry used his best (and most terrible) bad-boy voice. He darkened his gaze and squared his shoulders.

"Damn right I do!"

Harry tried his best not to laugh while saying his next line in his deepest, most husky voice, "Your mother."

Again, they had to pause the scene to wait for the laughter to subside. Neville had tears falling down his face.

"WHAT THE HELL? YOU SICK, SICK SON OF A BITCH I'M GONNA CURSE YOUR DICK OFF! AND MY MOTHER IS GOING TO BE SPENDING THE REST OF HER LIFE-" Ginny had to pause to allow herself some time to laugh, and this only renewed the rest of the group's giddiness.

Harry took another deep, dramatic breath, chuckled a few more times, and finally managed to get out, "Goodbye, Ginny." He mock stalked away.

"Oh no you don't," Ginny quickly whipped out her wand and threw a quick "Levicorpus!" at Harry's unsuspecting form.

As Harry flipped into the air to be suspended by his ankle, the entire group again was in stitches. Eventually, Hermione let him down, and the two actors crawled back to their seats.

"You deserve an Oscar," Hermione was still giggling a little.

"Who's Oscar?" Ron asked, to which she merely shook her head.

Neville suddenly started laughing again, and when Draco asked him what was so funny, he made a vague gesture towards the castle. Suddenly, Harry saw what he was looking at. A group of openmouthed students were staring out of one of the castle windows, and looked like they had seen the entire scene.

"They probably think you two have lost it," Hermione put her face in her hands.

"Or that the famous Harry Potter has broken up with his girlfriend," Ron said in a worried voice.

"Nah, they'll see it's not true when we walk together in the hallways," Ginny reassured everyone. Harry was quite glad that he had her.

**A/N: A little shorter than last time, but oh well I guess. Not every chapter can be as long as chapter five was. Anywho, see you guys next time! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Did you guys think I forgot about this? Well I didn't! I actually haven't been feeling so great the past week or so, and wasn't really up to writing comedy. So I actually wasn't even writing- yikes. Just watching Sherlock and playing Sims. Ugh, having no motivation sucks. Anyways, I'm back! Thanks again for all of the reviews, follows, suggestions, etc. Knowing that people are waiting helps me out of my funk. **** Enjoy!**

"Okay, erm, Hermione. Truth or dare?" Harry looked to his friend.

"Dare."

"You have to sing an embarrassing Muggle song in the Great Hall," Harry smirked.

"Oh, Merlin. Okay," Hermione resigned as she got up. The rest of the group eagerly followed, though for most, it was because they wanted to know what strange things Muggles listened to.

As they trudged on towards Hogwarts, Hermione wracked her brains for something to sing. She didn't listen to that much music, Muggle or wizard… so what songs did she know the words to?

Suddenly, she knew which song she had to sing. She didn't want to, but once the idea was in her head, she couldn't for the life of her get it out.

This time, as the group was walking, Draco wasn't so far behind the group. He walked alongside Harry and Ron, close behind Hermione, who was leading them. He was starting to think he might actually be _in_ this group. Though he wasn't sure what he would do when his parents found out who he was spending time with; or worse, _what_ they were doing together. He snickered at the thought of his father's face.

"What are you laughing about over there?" Ron demanded from the other side of Harry.

Draco hesitated for a few seconds, "… I'm trying to picture what my father's face would look like if he knew what I was doing with you lot." He kept looking straight ahead.

"They would probably disown you," Harry teased.

"You're probably right," Draco looked straight at the Gryffindor, suddenly serious. This left those of the group who heard to ponder how the Slytherin must feel; not able to do anything without his parents' approval. Even Ron felt a twinge of pity for him.

"I don't need your pity," Draco sneered in a dangerously quiet voice. It was as if he had read their minds. Somehow, despite the lack of volume in his voice, he had caused the group to go silent.

"I know." Luna spoke up after a moment's pause. These words, these simple two words, were so powerful that Draco didn't ever reply.

"Luna, will you stop being brilliant for just one moment?" Ginny attempted to lighten the mood. Luna simply smiled to herself.

As they continued walking, Draco's mind was even less at ease than it had been before. _Would _his parents disown him? His family was what had gotten him through life until this point. How would he fare without it? He had always been told he was clever, but was that enough? He was nowhere near where Granger was in that respect.

He stopped himself there. He was a _Malfoy_, dammit. He wasn't going to doubt himself like this. Family or no family, he was seventeen and had his whole life ahead of him. He would do what he liked with it. With a surge of anger, he thought about where his family had gotten him so far. His father's constant criticism and lectures, and his mother's constant praise throughout his life. He began to wonder what sort of different parenting _this_ group got.

_What if he was on the wrong side?_ This particularly disturbing thought only caused Draco further anger and confusion as he began to fall ever so slightly behind again.

Finally, the group reached the Great Hall, where Hermione had to perform. There weren't _too_ many students…

"So do I have to sing the whole thing?" Hermione asked defensively.

"Mmmmm… no. Just enough," Harry was a more merciful player in this game than Ginny or Draco.

_Enough to embarrass myself_… Hermione grudgingly thought.

She took a deep breath. How bad could it be? Maybe she was a good singer, and she just didn't know it…

"_Oh baby baby, how was I supposed to know? That something wasn't right here?"_

Hermione took a dramatic step back, as if she was in a music video. Just hearing her say "baby" was already enough to make Ginny snicker.

"_Oh baby baby, I shouldn't have let you go. And now you're out of sight, yeah."_

She raised a dramatic hand to her forehead. Hermione realized that she was worse at this than she had anticipated.

"_Show me how you want it to be," _She flipped her hair back and forth as she said this, "_Tell me baby, cause I need to know, now, OH BECAUSE." _At this last part, Hermione increased her volume by about 200%, causing a lot of people who hadn't noticed her previously to stop and stare.

_"MY LONELINESS. IS KILLING ME. AND I MUST CONFESS, I STILL BELIEVE (still believe)."_ She began to prance through the hall, right past a very confused looking Professor Flitwick and some wide eyed Slytherins.

"_WHEN I'M NOT WITH YOU, __**I LOSE MY MIND!**_" Again Hermione increased her volume. Harry was surprised that no glass shattered.

"_GIVE ME A SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG NNNNNNNNNNN," _she spread her arms as if she was giving a Broadway performance. Hermione paused for breath before delivering the last line.

_**"HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME!"**_ the Gryffindor gave her hair a wild flip before taking a shameless bow.

Those of the group that had never heard Muggle music before gave surprised snorts at the last line, and who was delivering it. This was certainly not what they had expected. Draco was surprised that it wasn't just a tribal hollering, as he had always assumed it would be. He hesitantly started to clap.

"No no no! Please don't-" Hermione protested frantically. It was no use, though. Soon the entire hall, except a scowling Filch, was applauding her performance. Some ironically, some legitimately, and some just joining the crowd.

After the applause had died down, Hermione hurried the group out of the hall as quickly as humanly possible.

"Why the _hell _would you start clapping?" she demanded of Draco as they walked back to the oak tree.

"Granger, hasn't anyone ever taught you that one always applauds a performance, no matter how bad it is?" he drawled.

Hermione found it shocking that Malfoy's parents had taught him a moral so kind, but she let it go.

"Do yourself a favor, though, and never become a singer. I can't always be there to cover your back," he added with a smirk.

She snorted, "Draco, in the Muggle world there's a _lot_ of successful singers much less talented than I am."

"How the hell do they get popular then? I can't imagine someone sounding worse than you; surprised Potter's glasses didn't break…" Ron snickered at this, but quickly stopped himself.

"They, well, some of them just fake it and use electronics to make their voices sound better, and some of them just use money and influence to create a cult around themselves."

Draco pushed back the image of the noseless man who came to mind. "Muggle music must be horrific, then. If they have to use _electronics_," he sneered the word, "to be successful."

"I don't know, I don't listen to it much. Or wizarding music, for that matter," she coolly deflected his insult.

For a few minutes, the two walked in silence, listening to the rest of the group's conversations until they reached the tree.

Once everyone was settled in again, Hermione continued the game.

"Alright, erm... Draco. Truth or dare?"

The Slytherin paused for a moment before answering, "Truth."

"Tell the story of your _worst_ family gathering."

"Good one," Harry mouthed at her from across the circle. The rest of the group was thinking the same. Christmas with Bellatrix must surely be something.

Malfoy sighed. He might as well tell them; his family name was already disgraced, what did it matter if he soiled it a little more?

"Right, well. I suppose I'll tell you the story of when Aunt Bella and Aunt Andromeda decided to duel in our front yard."

Everyone's ears perked up. This was a story they didn't want to miss. Although they technically weren't "enemies" anymore, the group was longing to get some dirt on their former adversary.

"Well, go on!" Ron encouraged the Slytherin.

Draco gave a huff, "Well, I suppose first I should inform you that my mother and aunt Bella-"

"Stop calling her that," Neville interrupted.

"Why?" Draco scoffed, "I'll call my aunt whatever the hell I want."

The blonde couldn't for the life of him figure out why Longbottom wore such a strange expression. They sat in silence for a moment, Slytherin staring down Gryffindor.

"I'll call her whatever I-" Draco began to assert.

"It's not that- it's just hard to believe that she was someone's aunt," Neville actually sneered the last word.

Draco's face took on a slightly less hostile expression before he continued, "Well, anyways, Aunt Bella and my mother didn't really get along with our aunt Andromeda. Looking back on it, I don't remember _why_ my father thought it a brilliant idea to invite her, but it's no matter now I suppose. Anyway, this was a Christmas party and a rather large one at that. So we had all of our best wines out and firewhisky and butterbeer and of course eggnog and a large assortment of gifted alcohol."

"Bottom line, there was a lot of alcohol," Hermione prompted.

"Brilliant deduction, Granger. So my father's parties always had a habit of going on for longer than is usual for a family party, but this one was especially long. And as the night went on, Aunt Bella and Aunt Andromeda just kept drinking and drinking and guzzling down everything in the house. Aunt Bella because she has… or had a weakness for that sort of thing, and Andromeda I assume because she betrayed her family and was at a party surrounded by people who hated her."

"Yikes," Ginny commented.

Draco shrugged, "Anyways so after a while they were both flat out drunk. I mean, _really_ drunk. So Aunt Bella started grilling her about her affairs with this muggle and Aunt Andromeda just kept getting angrier and angrier, so they ended up taking it outside for a duel.

"One thing led to another and they ended up getting really into it. Breaking windows, soaking the entire front of the manor with water… oh and what finally put an end to it was when Aunt Bella accidentally set some of the peacocks on fire."

"I'm sorry, but _peacocks_?" Ginny was incredulous.

"Yeah, they have them just roaming outside around the manor," Harry answered the redhead.

"Yes, and she set a good portion of them ablaze. You can picture my parents' horror. Everyone just trying to enjoy a normal party with a bunch of flaming birds running about… After that, we broke them up and everyone had to leave early. My father told me I was never to speak of it to anyone."

"Oh the horror!" Ginny joked. "They had to _leave early_!"

Draco snorted. "It was _quite_ a horror for my family, Weasley. Keep in mind who you're talking about."

"I'm sure you never had a dull moment, though," Hermione mused.

"Yeah, Bellatrix and all that alcohol…" Ron trailed off, not feeling like it was appropriate to make a joke about the woman who took Neville's parents' sanity.

"Oh, no, they're extremely boring," Draco contradicted, "That was really the only time anything _actually_ amusing happened. Mostly at all the others we just stand and make small talk and brag about the land we bought and who got promoted. And later in the evening the muggle bashing starts. Really, it's all the same. But it's necessary."

"Bloody hell, that's not a party, that's prison!" Ron looked rather smug underneath his fake shock.

"What the hell is it _necessary _for?" Neville exclaimed.

"Necessary for being a prat," Ginny whispered to Hermione.

"I don't know, it's just necessary," Draco snapped at Neville.

Harry almost felt bad for the Slytherin. It _did_ sound horribly boring. He tried to imagine if he had somehow ended up on Draco's manor instead of at the Burrow. He cringed at the thought. No amount of fancy wines and good connections could make up for his second home at the Weasley's house.

**A/N: What did you guys think? Again, I'm really sorry that it took me so long to get this up. Unfortunately, this is probably going to be updated more at this speed now that school is starting (sets fire to self). Ugh. But honestly, I refuse to give up on this story. Sorry if this chapter was too serious. For some reason I thought it was…? I don't know, maybe I'm paranoid. There was a lot of Draco in this chapter, so for those who don't like him, I'm sorry. I just loveee developing him sooo much! If this wasn't as good of a chapter, also sorry. I'm having trouble writing as I said before- and I'm sorry that I'm apologizing so much. Maybe I just need to stop apologizing for stuff like this. Harry Potter fanfiction that I write won't matter in 100 years. But anywho, remember to review and send in your suggestions! Until next time, darlings!**


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